Heart of a Devil
by Shella Winchester
Summary: Rose Hathaway is Shadow Kissed. That means she was once dead, then struck a deal with a Devil, who then gave her his heart so that she could live a little longer. Now her time is nearly up... full summary inside RozaXDima.
1. Chapter 1

_Okkkkkkk! So. New story, and idea that I thought would be fun at first, but totally works in light of new things that happened in Blood Promise. No spoilers, I'm just saying the concept of a lot of things in here just seemed to fit after Blood Promise came out, so i decided to type up the (so far) four chapter story..._

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy!**

**Title: **Heart Of a Devil  
**By: **Me (duh)  
**Rating: **T/T+ for strong imagery and language  
**Summary: **Rose Hathaway is Shadow-Kissed. That means that at some point on her life, she has a pact with the devil. When Rose was just born, her heart ceased to beat. So, her mother made a deal. The Devil would give his heart to her for twenty years so that she may live, and after that he could take her. Now Rose is nineteen, and her time is fast approaching…

* * *

**Chapter 1**

I dropped silently to the floor. Pulling out my gun from my thigh holster, I crept down the hallway toward the lighted bedroom.

'_Hey. Christian's sending me the passwords to deactivate the security system on your floor, so get ready, and be careful._'

My partner, Dimitri Belikov's, voice sounded over my headset. I smiled as adrenaline started racing through my system, although whether it was because of the anticipation or his voice, I wasn't quite sure. "Okay. Go for it, Comrade."

Faintly, I could hear the clicking noises of a keyboard over the headset, then two small beeps. '_Got through. Go in for the kill; I'll catch up later._'

As if I needed him to tell me.

I kicked down the door and rammed inside, catching the guards off guard. Losers. Three of them were dead before they even realized I was inside. The other five pulled out their guns and started shooting at me. Amazingly, they managed not to hit each other.

I dived under a writing table, grabbing the front legs and yanking them to throw the table onto its side. Pulling out my second Glock, I loaded new magazines into both guns, praying that the table was thick enough to withstand the bullets. It took me all of one second to change the magazines, and, taking a deep breath, I peered around the corner and shot three times.

Two more fell to the floor, one of them clawing at a bullet hole in his throat. Ew. I ducked back behind the table, my blood pounding in my ears. Standing up, I started shooting at one of the men who had stopped shooting. Unfortunately, because he didn't have to aim, he was more agile and easily dodged. By now, all the guards had used up their supply of bullets and were now closing in on me.

I got to my feet and assessed the three men. The shortest man was still a good six inches taller than me and I cursed my mother for being short for the millionth time. I pointed my Glock at the tallest man and shot four times.

Unfortunately, only three bullets flew out, barely grazing the man's thigh. Shit.

I ditched my guns and got into a crouch, ready to spring at the lightest minute. The first guy idiot enough to touch me was going to get his head shoved up his ass. Literally.

The medium sized guy lunged.

I grabbed his outstretched arm and slammed my knee into his gut. Then I slammed my leg down on his back, smiling as I heard the loud crunch that indicated that I'd broken his spine. When he arched backwards because of the break, I rammed my palm down into his face, nearly folding his body in half and crushing his skull in the process.

Whirling to face my remaining enemies, I discovered that they were both on the ground, dead.

"Getting slow, Rose."

I glared at the tall, lean man leaning against the wall, arms folded over his broad chest, a gun peeking out from underneath an arm. "Shut up, Dimitri. I was getting around to those two. Did Mia and Eddie get what they needed?"

He nodded, and then jerked his head toward the door, smirking at me. I glared again. It was at times like these that I wanted to carve that smile off his face and salt the injury.

After retrieving my Glocks, I ran down the hall, following Dimitri. "Did someone send an extraction?" I asked as we flew down a flight of stairs. The center of the building was cylindrical, each level an open hallway around the circumference of the cylinder, with stairs on opposite ends of the circle, making us run a semicircle to reach the next flight of stairs going down. A glass wall that was waist high served as a railing. I scowled as my sensitive hearing picked up the sound of footsteps. The guards had been alerted.

"Mia and Eddie are going to meet us at the entrance once they've gotten a car," Dimitri replied, not even flinching as three bullets slammed into the staircase, missing him by centimeters.

We leapt from the stairs to land on the second floor, narrowly avoiding a barrage of bullets at the top of the stairs. Just as we got to our feet, I heard a faint ticking, which intensified to a frantic beeping.

I realized why the guards had only tried to shoot at us when we were on the third floor. "Get down!" I yelled, launching myself onto Dimitri's back and slamming him to the floor as the room to the right of us to us exploded, the force launching me into the air and over the railing.

My hands scrambled to grab onto something, but I only grabbed at flying debris and dust. I heard a loud smash and glass shards flew in all directions as searing pain tore through my body. Coughing and crying and swearing all at the same time, I looked up and realized that I'd flown into the massive chandelier hovering over the main lobby.

"Rose!" Dimitri yelled.

"Up here!" I got to my hands and knees, careful not to fall through the gaps in the large steel frame. The glass shards embedded in my skin only dug deeper and I took a few precious seconds to yank a few out.

"Hurry up! They're coming!"

Whether he was talking about Mia and Eddie or the guards, I didn't know, nor did I care, because either way, it meant I needed to move my ass. I crawled to the edge of the chandelier, fighting to keep my balance as the entire thing swayed and tipped dangerously. Looking down, I estimated a good twenty foot drop.

Just bloody awesome.

"Rose!" Dimitri called sharply.

God how I wanted to just leap down there and punch his face in. One of these days…I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Killing Dimitri could wait until after I got out of this mess. I ducked through one of the openings in the frame, my hands holding onto the cold metal tightly. If I dangled, I figured I could shave five and a half feet from my fall.

Looking down again, I dropped.

I landed neatly on my feet, bending into a crouch to lessen the impact, although my feet were stinging. I used that crouch to launch myself forward running, catching up with Dimitri and bolting out the front doors.

Mia and Eddie were already waiting for us. Eddie's hands were covered in blood and Mia look grim. "About time!" She snarled as she unlocked the door to let us in. "What the hell happened to you?" She asked when she saw my hands and torn up clothes.

"Chandelier," I replied tartly, knowing that she would be less bitchy once the mission was over. "And really, did you have to get a Honda Civic? This company makes millions! Could you not find an Aston Martin or something?"

Dimitri rolled his eyes. "Yeah, _that_ would definitely be inconspicuous."

"As if we're being inconspicuous now. And we should get rocket launchers installed, just like James Bond." I grinned.

"That'll go well. '_Hey, I'd like to install rockets into my Aston Martin please._' Yeah, the dealership would really appreciate that."

"Tell them it's for charity. Say you're playing James Bond at a UNICEF fundraiser. People will do all sorts of shit if it's for charity, you—"

"Sorry, hate to interrupt," Mia said, not at all looking like she was sorry, "But we have company." She pulled out an AK-47 and handed it to me.

I gaped. "Holy shit, girl! This is awesome!"

She grinned. "I thought you'd like that. Five cop cars behind us, Two helicopters following. Have a field day; this mission isn't a 'no kill' one." She cocked her rifle and smiled evilly.

Rolling down my window, I braced the AK-47 against the frame and stuck my head out the window. It was dark, and the pursuers were driving with their lights out, but that wasn't a problem for my eyes. I could see every car clearly, and could even make out the people inside. Each person held a semi-automatic, and all but the drivers were shifting into a position to shoot us.

"Dimitri, Take out the helicopters!" I yelled before I started shooting. It was hard, but I managed to hit the tires of several of the cars, sending them swerving.

"Everybody hang on!" Eddie yelled, stepping on the gas pedal.

I pitched forward, nearly falling out of the car. Hastily, I pulled the gun inside and strapped on my seatbelt. "What the hell? I only took out three of them!" I growled at Eddie, who was only focused on the roads.

"Yeah, but our escape is coming up," Eddie retorted, speeding through the winding streets. How he managed to find roads that permitted him to go at this speed in San Francisco of all places, I will never know.

Looking up, I scanned for a sign of an escape. All I saw was the Golden Gate Bridge. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" I snarled. "You want us to jump off the fucking bridge? We'll die! Even if we manage to survive the fall, the current and water temperature would kill us!"

"We've done crazier shit," he pointed out calmly. "Anyway, this car is currently set on coordinates, so it'll keep driving to a designated point, where someone will pick it up. Meanwhile, as it drives, it'll create a distraction for all the pursuers. All we need to do is jump out of the car and lay low. Christian had contacted people earlier and told them to leave the door leading to the top of the bridge open; we'll get up there where Mason's coming for a roof extraction."

"Don't really like this plan either," I sighed. "But whatever." I tucked the AK-47 under the chair.

Mia turned in her spot to look behind us. "They're far enough behind that we can get out without being seen." She handed Eddie a towel to wipe the blood off his hands and face. He switched the car to auto drive and accepted the towel.

We were fast approaching the bridge.

"Get ready," Dimitri warned and Eddie unlocked the car. "Remember to jump up high or you'll jump right into the pedestrian railings." He shifted to his feet.

I opened the door, adrenaline pumping through my veins, making all of this seem like some sort of action movie. I edged as far out as I could so that Dimitri would have a chance to jump as soon as I was out. Mia tapped the glass and held out five fingers. Four…three…two…

I ricocheted off the seat, landing on the other side of the railing and promptly dropped to my stomach.

The two cars pursuing us whooshed past, and I quickly rolled into the shadows casted by the bridge, waiting for a sign that anyone else was following the cars. Sure enough, seconds later, three more reinforcement cars drove past, a helicopter trailing close behind.

Finally, '_Okay, that's the last of them_.' Dimitri's voice said over the headset. '_Let's get going._'

Scrambling to my feet, I quickly dusted off my clothes and ran toward the closest frame of the bridge. Edie and Dimitri were already there, and Mia showed up minutes later. Together, we pried open the large, ancient steel door, which led to a small room with a miniscule elevator.

All four of us squeezed into the room. "Fuck. We're going to have to go up in pairs," Dimitri muttered. "You guys go first. Rose and I'll catch up soon enough."

Eddie and Mia nodded and dashed into the elevator, knowing we had twenty minutes, tops, before the pursuers figure out that we weren't actually in the car.

I leaned against the wall as the elevator slowly creaked upward.

There was a long silence. Then, Dimitri looked at me and asked, "How'd your heart? Nothing erratic is happening yet, is it?"

"No, I'm good. The Devil has got to be getting a huge thrill out of this," I grinned.

I'm what people call 'Shadow-Kissed.' When I was born, my heart ceased to beat. So my mother went and summoned a Devil and made a pact with it. The Devil would give me his or her heart for twenty years so that I may live. In exchange, while I possess his or her heart, the Devil will be able to experience human emotions. Now, note, I say the Devil, but I don't actually mean Satan or Lucifer. There's _the_ Devil, and then there are Devils who are in the same league as Demons and such, and technically speaking, they're practically the same thing. Anyway, as for the deal, when I turn twenty, the Devil who lent me his or her heart will hunt me down and kill me.

Sounds like a sucky deal, but really, I'm thankful for the Devil that gave me his or heat hear. Without it, I'd never be able to experience life. Perhaps it was because of this that I was so reckless in everything I do. I'm always throwing myself into a fight, and trying to cling onto life and experience all it offers, and I never hold back; I want to live without regrets.

Besides, having a Devil's heart has its quirks too. My senses are all heightened to amazing levels, I heal several times faster than the normal human, and I have crazy super strength. Thus the easily snapping a human being in half scenario from before.

"Rose."

Dimitri's voice pulled me from my thoughts. "Yeah?"

"Do you hear that?"

I frowned and listened. The elevator was halfway down, Mia and Eddie were climbing some sort of ladder, and…there. Barely distinguishable over the din of traffic, I could head footsteps approaching.

"Shit. Have they found out we're not there already?" I growled. "It'll be another two minutes, at least, until the elevator reaches the grounds, and I'd estimate the people I heard will be here in less than one."

He pulled out a Beretta and handed me a Colt. "How many?"

I listened again. "Five…no, seven. Two not human." Pursing my lips, I listened harder, trying to make out how heavy the footsteps were, how they carried the person/being. "One…werewolf. Newly turned, so she should be fairly easy to take out. I can't tell what the other creature is." I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants.

"You take out the werewolf; I'll get the rest," Dimitri whispered in my ear.

"Please tell me you've got silver bullets in here, then," I said, holding up the Colt.

"Better." He grinned, white teeth flashing in the dim lighting. "Metal Mercury enclosed in silver."

Contrary to popular belief, silver bullets don't actually kill werewolves. Sure, it'll hurt like hell, but it won't kill them. When the lore about werewolves first emerged, it was in the medieval times, where metal mercury, also called quicksilver, was considered silver. It was also an alchemist's metal of choice, since they believed mercury was the basis of all other metals. Oh, one other thing. Shooting them through the heart isn't going to do jack squat. You have to blow the werewolf's brains out as well.

And as for my favorite method of killing werewolves…I felt for my thigh holster and reached into the pouch, pulling out a small hand grenade. I preferred to blow their heads off. Thank God Mason insisted on packing a hand grenade with me.

"We need to first get out of here. If they catch us while we're still in here, we're completely screwed," Dimitri pointed out. I glanced around. Shit. He was right. Bracing my hands against the door, I pushed it open and the two of us ducked outside and behind the frame. "They're here," I whispered. I could hear that they were close. Very close. "I wish we could turn off these lights," I growled, checking the revolver. Six rounds. Brilliant.

When the closest person to us was two feet from our spot, I nudged Dimitri.

He leapt from his hiding place and I heard yelling and grunts as I went around the other way. I'd just turned the second corner around the square frame when I felt it attack.

The werewolf-lady slammed into me, throwing me into the cold metal. Her eyes glowed, pale yellow in the already orangish-yellow light. She grabbed my wrist and yanked me up. But she was a newly turned werewolf, and with my super strength from the Devil, I easily matched her.

I took a hold of her wrists with one hand and yanked her downward, slamming my elbow up into her neck. She roared in pain and tried to hit me, but I was way ahead of her. Dodging, I grabbed her by her shoulder and the back of her shirt. With little effort, I picked her up and threw her over my hip, placing my knee on her sternum and pressing the barrel to her chest.

Fear flashed in her eyes seconds before I shot her through the heart. I dragged her body to the four-foot railing that prevented people from falling into the water. She was already beginning to stir, since her brain was still intact and the healing process for a werewolf was insanely fast.

I pulled the safety pin off the detonation lever of the grenade and shoved it firmly into her mouth. Then, I pulled her up and shoved her off the bridge. If the explosion didn't killer her –which was unlikely since it would blow her head to pieces –the impact of falling into the water would.

Turning to look for Dimitri, I found that once again, he'd finished faster than me.

"Where's the other un-human thing?" I asked, running over to him. He'd acquired a nasty-looking gash on his upper arm.

He winced as I eased off my tank top –I had two on; I wasn't about to start stripping on the Golden Gate Bridge –and gently wrapped up his wound. "It bailed. I think it was a Devil, but I'm not sure."

My heart leapt. A Devil? Could it have been my Devil? I was only about seven months from my…death date, after all. "Did it…was it…" I stammered, not sure how to phrase my question.

"No," Dimitri said, looking apologetic. "It showed no sign of interest in you. He wasn't the Devil you're looking for."

I felt my shoulders sag. It felt like I was being deflated. "Damn it!"

Finished with bandaging his arm, we both stood up. First we had to dispose of the bodies and weapons, and then we had to get our asses up to the top of the frame. We scrambled to dump the corpses over the edge of the bridge, and then quickly got into the elevator.

"Fuck," Dimitri suddenly said.

"What?" I asked sharply. Did we miss something?

"Look." He pointed to the side. "There was a ladder all the way to the top. We could've just taken the ladder, no wait or fight necessary." Sure enough, a chipped, steel ladder spanned the height of the frame.

Well, nothing we could do about that now.

After about five minutes, the rickety elevator finally reached the top and we both made a dash toward the second ladder that went the rest of the way to the top.

Dimitri beat me to it and I shot daggers at his ass the entire time I climbed up behind him.

By the time we opened the hatch and stepped out onto the platform, Mason was already there, hovering a distance above us.

He lowered the ladder down to us and we climbed another 25 feet to the helicopter.

"Finally!" Mason yelled over the sound of the blades whirring. "We were beginning to think you'd died or something!" He extended a hand to me and hauled me in. Christian was in there, tapping frantically, and Lissa was checking Eddie and Dimitri's wounds.

"Shut your face, Mason!" I screamed back. "Just get us out of here!" I turned to Christian. "Do you have anything off the chip?"

He shot me a glare. "I'm working as fast as I can, Rose. I'm a genius, not a speed demon!" Christian scowled, fingers still flying. His eyes scanned the screen at light speed, his expression changing slowly from concentration to anger to excitement.

"I think we got something!" He looked up at me excitedly. "I think we have a lead on your Devil finally!"

* * *

_So, that's how it starts. The next chapter will do more explaining, so yeah. Don't worry; I'm working on Spirit Bound and You Belong With Me, so don't panic. Oh, and I was listening to Taylor Swift's Love Story, and I'm inspired to write a fluff on RoseXDima, and I defs want to put Rose's dad in it, so....I'm excited. _

_Oh! And this story will have POV changes, although probably (most likely) later. Much later._

_Thank you for reading! Please review!_


	2. Chapter 2

_**HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS! SPIRIT BOUND COVER! DIMITRI AND ROZA! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY fUCK! THE COVER. IT'S BEAUTIFUL, IT'S TANTALIZING, IT'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN, YOU MUST GO LOOK NOW! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY SHIT, DIMITRI AND ROSE, ALMSOT KISSING!  
MY LIFE IS ALMOST COMPLETE! NOW IF THE NEXT COVER IS THEM MAKING OUT, I'LL JUST DIE HAPPY!  
AHHHHHHHHHHH! DIMITRI AND ROZAAAAAA!**_

_Ahem. Sorry about that. Had a field day....Thank you all for reviewing! I'll keep this brief, but please read the ending paragraphs!_

_This chapter is dedicated to my friend Lauren. Happy birthday, love!_

* * *

**Chapter 2.**

My cell phone blasted Eye of the Tiger in my ear and I sat bolt upright in bed, swearing.

I fumbled under my pillow and found my cell phone. "Hello?" I yawned.

'_Rose!_' Christian's voice yelled. '_It's two o'clock! Where the hell are you?_'

"Home. Sleeping." I was getting irritated. What the hell did he want?

'_Sleeping._' His voice was incredulous. '_Do you hear that, God? She's bloody fucking sleeping. Did you forget about your meeting with Alberta today at two thirty? You were supposed to be here an hour ago to meet with Eddie and Dimitri!_'

Suddenly, I was wide awake. "Fuck. Are you serious?"

'_No, I enjoy calling my little sister randomly. Of course I'm serious, dipshit!_' He snarled. '_Just get your ass over here; I have your uniform._'

He hung up before I could reply.

Growling and muttering a string of curses, I scrambled to take a quick shower, then ran out after throwing on some clothes, only taking the time to towel dry my long dark brown hair. I burst out of my apartment building out onto the bustling streets of Philadelphia. Trying to keep my purse on my shoulder, I hailed a cab.

The headquarters for our Agency (which was called Promise Mark) were downtown, and we owned an entire building. The people of the agency were called 'Guardians' since it sounded cooler than 'Agents.' We handled everything from bodyguard positions, to hunting supernatural creatures. Usually, the real strange cases were left to me, Dimitri, Mia, Eddie and several senior Guardians. However, besides the hire-on missions, we (as in the agency) weren't paid. Mostly, we made money through the government and through renting floors out to private offices. Apparently the location of our building was ideal for many businesses, so people paid out of their ass for a floor. Furthermore, thanks to Christian's technology work, half the shit we supplied in the building was ten times more advanced than anything else in the world.

We operated from the top floors –levels twenty-four to thirty –and in the basement, which was strictly out of bounds for anyone not in Promise Mark, since Mason and Christian and company were always conducting experiments down there.

Christian was our technical analyst and computer genius. He wasn't a geek, just a genius. There _is_ a difference. He's also my brother, I'm sad to say. He designed all of our state-of-the-art gadgets, most of which has never and will never be released to the general public, at least not until some idiot scientist discovered some new shit in the far future.

Now, Mason was our weapons designer. That man is my hero. I mean, come on! Who else could turn a blender into a fire-spitting, bullet shooting killing machine?

When we arrived at the building, I paid a driver a twenty for a sixteen ninety-five bill, and thanked him before bolting inside.

"About time!" Christian growled at me, thrusting a white blouse, black jacket, pants and heels at me. "Move your ass!"

I shot him a grin and barreled into the girl's bathroom.

Changing took all of two minutes, make up, three. I ran into the elevator and swiped my ID card that allowed me to access the upper levels of the building, and I managed to make it to Alberta's floor at two twenty-eight. Huzzah.

"Two minutes early," Dimitri's voice called form my left. I turned to see him, Eddie and Mia sitting in the small lobby. "That's a new record, Rose."

I smiled and plopped down next to him.

"So do any of you know why we were called here on such short notice?" Eddie asked, tapping his fingers impatiently. "Usually they send us a de-briefing ahead of time."

I shrugged. Really, I couldn't care less. As long as I got to go on a mission, I was fine with pretty much anything.

Finally, the doors opened and my best friend, Vasalisa Dragomir, Lissa, walked out. Lissa was Alberta's secretary when not on a mission and our personal doctor when we were on duty, and on weekends.

"Rose! Guys!" She exclaimed, looking as happy as Harry Potter after having sex with Ginny. "Alberta told me to bring you guys in!" She flounced to my side and proceeded to hug each of us, smiling bright enough to put the sun to shame.

"I heard about your last mission," she chatted excitedly as we walked into the office. "That was so awesome when you blew up that werewolf's head!"

I chuckled. Lissa and Christian have been living together for a year now, which was why I got the penthouse uptown to myself. Lissa and I have been best friends since I could remember. Her family often employed my mom for their business transactions, since they were very rich and powerful, thus attracting many potential enemies. However, due to that, I rarely saw my mom.

"Rose, Eddie, Dimitri, Mia, take a seat please," Alberta greeted us, smiling. She was a middle-aged woman in her mid t late forties, although she looked slightly older. She was also our boss lady, and it was up to her what missions we got.

We complied, me and Dimitri wrestling for the largest and most comfortable chair. I won, for once. Usually serious and no-nonsense during missions, Dimitri could be completely different off the field, always making fun of me, yet knowing when to be supportive. In a lot of ways, he was like a mentor.

"Alright. Your next assignment is in London," Alberta informed us, handing each of us a folder.

"Assignments?" Mia inquired.

"Yes. Rose and Dimitri, you're in charge of the larger problem, but you two will be handling two other missions, and will act as backup if needed." Alberta leaned against her desk, eyeing each of us like a hawk with its prey.

I frowned. "Backup?" We've never needed backup before.

"Hang on. We'll get to that after we settle Mia and Eddie's missions. Kyle Halberd, richest man in London. His only daughter was killed last week. The police have no leads, and he wants retribution. We believe there is a serial killer responsible. There have been several murders in that area, each with a different MO, so we believe he may be a copycat. Therefore, we're assigning you two to this job."

It was widely known through the Agency that if there was a serial killer case, the two Guardians to go to were Mia and Eddie. The two of them quickly flipped through the files of the Halberd murder, eyes darting from left to right.

"And your second assignment," Alberta continued when the two looked up from their paper, "Is what we believe to be a group of changelings."

"Changelings." Eddie sounded incredulous.

"Yes, Mr. Castile. Changelings." Alberta glared at Eddie, who was still frowning.

"How do you know—?"

"For God's sake, Eddie! Let the lady talk!" I snapped. I loved Eddie to death, but he tended to ask too many questions. Of course, that was what made him so good at what he does.

"Thank you, Rose. Now, as I was saying, a small neighborhood in London suddenly started noticing a drastic change in their children. A two year old was reading Harry Potter, and a seven year old was inquiring about thing that a seven year old should never have heard of."

"Could they just be prodigies?" Dimitri asked.

Alberta shook her head. "Each of the abnormal children had an incident only a few days before they exhibited these strange behaviors. Each parent admitted that there was a spell when they thought their children were missing, but they always showed up soon after. The kids weren't gone the same day, but each of these disappearances resulted in the child showing higher than average intelligence than before."

"So, you want us to catch a serial killer and destroy a band of changelings?" Mia asked. Her tone wasn't skeptical or anything, just a matter of fact, as if she were confirming a customer's order.

"Correct." Then Alberta turned to me and Dimitri. "Now to the slightly larger issues. We have a grave digger issue."

Before I could stop myself, I said, "Excuse me? Grave digger? How is that a bigger issue?"

"Someone is digging up corpses. Sometimes, the valuables in the graves are taken. But most of the time, the body is actually taken."

Now Dimitri spoke up. "Wait, they _TAKE _the body?"

"That's disgusting," Mia said, making a face.

I agreed completely. Killing people wasn't a problem for me, not anymore. But digging up the bodies of people who died and then taking them god knows where? Ew. But I had a feeling there was more to this than a mere grave digger issue.

"…worried about the massive burial ground in London with the victims of the Black Death. You two must track her down before that happens."

"Wait, what?" I asked. "Sorry, I was thinking."

To my surprise, Alberta didn't tell me off for that. She just took a deep breath and said, "We have evidence that the gravedigger is a woman, and although we are unsure where she'll hit next. We're worried about the East Smithfield Black Death Cemetery in London."

I frowned. "What could she possibly steal from 1200 corpses from the 14th century?"

"Well, I wasn't finished. The reason this issue is so big is because, according to my sources, this woman is not just digging up the bodies."

"Good God, Alberta. Just get to the point already!" I snapped. She was usually so direct, so what was up with the beating around the bush explanations?

"We're dealing with a necromancer."

My mouth dropped open. Holy shit. A necromancer? A real life, honest to god necromancer? 1 in 10,000 people possessed some form of supernatural powers, however mild. Only one in like, 3,000 of those supernatural users was a necromancer!

"But there's more."

More? How could there possibly be more? What, was she also the reincarnation of Queen Elizabeth or something?

"We also found out that she doesn't get her powers from her birthright. She's drawing her magic from something else."

She was getting her dead people juice from something else? Was that even possible?

"After doing some serious digging, Guardians have confirmed that she's getting her powers from the same Devil who gave you his or her heart."

* * *

I could hardly contain my excitement. Finally, after all this time, I had a solid lead. I was finally going to find out something about the Devil whose heart was beating in my chest. My hand traveled to my chest, feeling the steady beating beneath my ribs.

When the time came, would the Devil listen to my selfish wish? What argument could I say to convince him or her? And what would happen if—

"Hey sexy. Want some company?"

Good God, even in the airport, these psychos were running everywhere. I resisted the urge to throw him through the roof and I fingered the SIG Sauer P226 hidden in my jacket. One perk for working as a Guardian- security systems let you come right through with your weapons.

"No, I'm waiting for some—"

He cut me off. "Come here, beautiful." He grabbed my arm.

Another hand crossed my vision and gripped the man's wrist. "If you touch her against her will, not only will I guarantee the removal of your testicle with a rusted potatoes peeler, but I will rip you apart. Limb. From. Limb."

Scowling, I turned to face Dimitri. "Chill, Comrade. I had it under control."

"You're welcome." He said, a smile flitting across his lips.

My heart jolted.

His expression immediate turned to one of concern. "Are you alright? You look…well, suddenly, you had a look of horror on –"

I realized I was staring at him and quickly shook my head. "It's nothing. No worries. I'm good." I was most definitely not good. I was in love with my partner, have been for a year now. Sudden confession? Not so much. I mean, I couldn't exactly come out and admit that I was in love with my partner, who, might I add, is seven years older than me.

"Rose? Rose! Roza!" Dimitri gently shook me. I started at his use of my nickname. "Are you sure you're alright?" His eyes peered at me, dark with worry.

I flashed him my biggest smile. "Of course. I was just thinking…"

"About?" He prompted.

I looked up at him. I've known Dimitri since I was twelve, when I first started training with Stan and Alberta. Dimitri was my age then, but I never really got the chance to _really_ know him. Five year later, it was sheer luck he'd become my partner.

And he was more than just a partner, or a mentor, that much, I was certain.

"Roza?" He asked again.

I sighed. "I was thinking about my devil again."

"You've been doing that a lot, lately."

"Yeah, well the clock's ticking," I said. "I mean, What can I possibly offer or say to ask for more time? And what exactly have I done to _deserve_ more time? And I've always wanted to meet my devil to thank them, you know?" I fingered my Nazar nervously, relieved to finally be able to talk to someone about this, and nervous that the person I was telling this to was Dimitri of all people. "But I suppose wanting the heart is really selfish of me, but mostly, I just wonder…will the Devil grant my wish and let me live just a little longer?"

Dimitri didn't say anything when I finished and I wondered if I had spilled a little bit too much to him.

"I'm sure he will."

I blinked. "Really?"

He nodded.

"How can you be sure?" I blurted.

He just stared at me, and I kicked myself. Why the hell did I say that? That was so stupid! Of all the—

"He'll say yes," Dimitri repeated firmly. "How could he say no? That would be too cruel. You're too…" My heart raced. What? I was too what?

But he looked away and said gruffly, "He just won't."

At first, I was a little disappointed. Then I cheered up. "Thank you."

He blinked.

"Hungry? Let's go get a bite to eat before the plane comes," I said, hitching my backpack over my shoulder and pulling up my suitcase.

We were waiting for our table at the bar in Chili's, and looking over our necromancer files. "Do we know why she's doing this?" I asked, sipping my Shirley Temple.

"We don't even know who she is, although Alberta's got Guardians watching the Cemetery just in case," Dimitri replied, sipping at his soda (he never drank on duty). "But that is something we should think about. Perhaps she's doing it because there's a certain someone she wants to raise? Like a dead husband or loved one?"

"Well, unless her hubby died in the Black Death, we wouldn't be worrying about the massive burial ground, would we?" I pointed out. "She's targeting a place that holds over 600 corpses underground and more above ground."

"Perhaps she holds a grudge against someone and wants to kill then?" Dimitri suggested, although he looked doubtful.

"Maybe. Who would she need 1000 corpses to kill?"

"I don't know. Maybe she wants to battle something."

"Maybe it's an easy excavation method."

"Or maybe she needed to hide something."

I stared. "With skeletons. She needed to hide something with rotting, smelling corpses. That's ridiculous, especially coming from you." A lady came over and led us to our table at that moment.

We had just started our meal–fajitas. I love fajitas –when an arm crossed my vision and plucked one straight from my plate. I turned, ready to slaughter the person who dared to touch my food and came face-to-face with Christian. "What the hell?"

"Hey Rose," he grinned, chewing. "What's up?"

"Why the fuck are you here?" Was all I could manage.

"Tsk, tsk. Language, dear sister. And we're obviously here to help."

"We?"

"Yo!" Mason walked over and clapped me on the shoulder. "Long time no see, Rose. What's up? Ooh. Fajita." He reached over to tale a piece.

"If you touch my fucking fajita, I will destroy you in a way that makes the Apocalypse look merciful," I snarled. He wisely snatched his hand away.

"We were discussing reasons why the necromancer would be summoning mass burial grounds of bodies," Dimitri said, as if my little thing with Mason hadn't occurred.

"Maybe she wanted free house cleaners," Christian suggested, swiping my drink as well. I hate him.

"Naturally. I'd sell my soul for some undead housecleaners," I muttered. "I repeat, why are you here?"

"We're going on this mission with you. Mia and Eddie are taking the next flight with us, so you two get to go ahead. Don't know why, don't really care." He smirked. "I just hope the two of you don't try anything once you're alone, if you know what—"

"Christian, shut up. Just because you're my brother does _not_ mean I will hesitate to blow your brains out." I snarled menacingly.

He shrugged. "Fair enough. Then I won't hesitate to hack into your accounts and check your email, IMs, and all your guilty pleasures. What, you got a porn fetish? I'll find it."

I glared. "Bitch."

"Jerk."

"Ah, brother sister love," Mason said mournfully. "The most beautiful thing there is."

Both me and Christian had turned to pound his face in when the airport broadcasted, '_All passengers on flight R227to London, England, please go to terminal D14 for boarding please. That's flight F227to London England, please go to terminal D14 for boarding._'

"That's us," I said, getting to my feet.

"What's the rush?" Mason asked. "They have to board the first class people first; you've still got time."

I smiled crookedly. "We're riding first class."

"What?!" He squawked. "That is total bull!"

"You're not risking your neck out on the field," I pointed out.

"But we're always risking out necks in the lab," Christian retorted.

"Not my problem," I grinned, getting my bag. "See ya."

The plane ride was uneventful, and it was evening by the time we actually arrived in London. Alberta had sent someone to meet us and take us to the hotel, and I was excited when I discovered that she'd rented us a two bedroom villa. Awesome.

Dimitri immediately sat down and started doing research on necromancers again. I, on the other hand, wasn't much of a research person. So I took a cab to the East Smithfield Cemetery. Several Guardians were already at the site, monitoring.

Stan, my ex-instructor, smiled and gave me a quick tour and run-down of the place. "It's been quiet the last couple days. But I expect that'll change." At my questioning look, he explained, "The full moon is approaching. And you know how much the supernatural world loves the full moon."

I nodded. "Right. Alberta wanted me to take a look at the nearby cemeteries, could you point me in the right direction?"

There were four other cemeteries in a three mile radius around the Black Death site. Another Guardian found the directions and I headed toward the nearest one after promising Stan that I'd contact him if anything came up.

Each cemetery had one Guardian keeping watch nearby. The first two I visited were fairly new and small, surrounded by churches and other little, livable buildings. Two Guardians I'd never met before were posted there, and they all gave me updates. Nothing has been happening, yadda yadda, you know, the usual.

At the third cemetery, I found no sign of a Guardian.

I wandered around the area, looking at the few people who were still there this late, trying to figure out if any of them was the undercover Guardian I was looking for.

No such luck.

I continued to look for the next half hour before I gave up. I needed to report this to Stan so we could get another Guardian. Must've been a new Guardian if he or she abandoned their post—what the hell was that?

A dark shape, barely visible in the grass, was lying just outside the fence of the cemetery.

Pulling out my Beretta M92 from my holster, I cautiously approached the shape. By the time, most If not all visitors had left the cemetery, and I prayed that this was just some hobo sleeping by the cemetery.

It wasn't. It was a Guardian, and one I recognized. Ryan was several years older than me, and he was one of the more competent Guardians in our business. "Oh Lord," I muttered, kneeling down next to his body.

Before I could actually examine the body, I heard the sound of cracking stone.

I turned just in time to see the gravestone nearest to me crack down the center, the dirt before it bulging.

"Fuck." I scrambled to my feet just as the first bone popped out of the ground.

* * *

_So yeah, longer chapter, yay! I better be seeing a lot of reviews, or you won't get to find out any more! Hahaha! And my midterms are starting, so there MAY not be an update next week. If there isn't, I can guarantee you there will be one the week after and one on Halloween. I've just had so little inspiration lately...But I WILL NOT let you guys down!_

_FOR THE LAST TIME: CHAINS OF A PROMISE IS A ONE-SHOT! THERE IS NO 'CONTINUE THE STORY' INVOLVED IN A ONE SHOT! PLEASE STOP REVIEWING WITH 'I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT PART!' THERE IS NO NEXT PART. _

_Thanks again, and please review!_


	3. Chapter 3

_I'd like to start off by apologizing. I'm so sorry that I've been absent for so long. I'm currently in Italy for a study abroad, but I'm working to typing more chapters, which I hope to get up sometime soon. However, I also have limited internet access, so we'll have to see. _

_For people still reading this, thank you so much for sticking with me, and for those of you who are new readers, thank you for reading!_

_And before we start,** can I rave about how wonderful Spirit Bound was? I very displeased with Dimitri(even though I can see where he's coming from) but I'd like to slap him and be like, you doing this is killing everyone else, so stop being selfish! (because if you think abou tit he's punishing himself for what he did to Rose, without considering how much it'll hurt her, despite the fact he THINKS its better for her if he stays away. COME ON, MAN!**_

_And now the story._

* * *

**Chapter 3.**

It was like something out of a bad horror movie, except the skeleton that first popped out came out ass-first, and then managed to get its head stuck in the ground. I'd guess it had gotten it tangled in all the roots.

The next corpse popped out more easily, hand first, and then head, body, etc. Furthermore, this corpse was clearly a fresh burial; its flesh was only beginning to rot and stink up the air. "Holy…mother of God," I breathed as several more gravestones cracked open. It was seriously like the rising of the zombies or something, absolutely ridiculous.

The second corpse had completely freed itself and started toward me. I shot it twice. The first bullet took out a chunk of its arm; the second hit its eyeball, causing it to explode. I gagged. The whole thing was worse than I imagined. Although the first skeleton was still stuck, at least four corpses had successfully escaped, and several more were in the process of digging themselves out.

A rustling behind me made me turn. Ryan staggered to his feet and I got my first good look at the damage that had been done to him. His jaw had been broken, and it looked like half his face was ripped off. His chest was a bloody head, threads of flesh hanging, wet, over the gaping, red cavity of his chest. One arm was bent at an odd angle, pearly bone protruding from the skin like stalagmites. He walked toward me, his one good eye bulging.

I gagged. Words failed to describe how absolutely disgusting this situation was.

Ryan lunged at me; I didn't know zombies could lunge. I flew backwards, shrieking, as I landed on the second rotting corpse, feeling its ribs crack beneath me. With a snarl, I tore Ryan off me and tossed him into two other corpses. The corpse beneath me had wrapped its arms around me, making it difficult for me to get up.

Straining, I slammed my elbow backward and sat up quickly, my abs screaming in pain. Triumphantly, I jumped to my feet.

However, my triumph was short lived when I realized that the corpse's arms were still locked around my waist, having completely detached them from the body. "Oh my God!" I yelped, yanking the arms around me.

I yanked out my SIG-Sauer and aimed, blowing out one corpse's head. Turning, I aimed at the oncoming corpses and shot until I was out of ammunition. None of the shots really did much damage, although I do recall seeing an ear flying and landing at my feet.

Left with no other choice, I holstered my gun and balled my hands into fists. I really hated the idea of actually touching these mofos, but I didn't see any other option at the moment.

Just as I s going to slug a corpse, all of them froze and looked away from me. A high pitched laugh rippled across the cemetery, making the hair on my neck stand on end and I resisted the urge to shudder. If there was ever a laugh that could kill children, that would be it.

"My dear, that certainly won't do," a distinctly British voice said. "You should know better; guns can't kill the undead." No, but your voice can.

I squinted. It was so dark by this time that it was hard to see, even for me. A petite woman stood a ways from m. She was draped in dark robes, and held some sort of cross in one hand, with strings attached to a skeleton of a dog at her feet, kind of like a puppeteer.

"Um miss? You've got your outfit wrong." I said loudly. "Witches wear robes; necromancers wear normal clothing. Cool effect with the dog though."

"You can be a smartass all you want, Rosemarie Hathaway. But we'll see who's laughing when you're a part of my undead army."

Gee, that was an original comeback. Who did this check thing she was? No, let me rephrase that. What did she think this was? Some cheesy horror flick? Honestly, I was dying to ask how she knew my name, but I wasn't about to give her the satisfaction.

"You're not going to kill me," I retorted.

"What makes you so sure?" Her shrill voice was really beginning to hurt my ears.

"Well first of all, I'm better than you and your corpses, so obviously, between the two of us, I deserve to live." I snapped in two new magazines. "And second of all, just because you've got a bunch of dead rotting dudes doesn't mean I can't get to you."

I charged at her, knowing my only way to get out of this was if I could get rid of her first.

An old lady grabbed my arm and I shot her in the face. Haha, sucker. Grabbing a large skeleton directly in front of me, I heaved myself up and flipped over him, effectively avoiding three more corpses and destroying a fourth as I landed on it.

One more burst of energy, and I came face-to-face with the necromancer.

"And when I get to you, I don't really think even your corpses can save you from a headshot at point-blank range."

The woman looked up at me with dark blue eyes and smirked. "No, but let's see what you value more." He fingers twitched and I felt something being pressed to my chest. Looking down, I saw a detached hand holding a gun to my heart.

"So, do you want to kill me? Or do you want to save your –and the Devil's –heart?"

I went cold as (for the first time in a long time) fear completely overwhelmed me. As soon as I got a hold of myself, I started shooting myself for not suspecting that she might've hidden something under her roves. For that matter, that's probably why she wore the damn thing in the first place.

"You posses the heart of the Devil I must kill," the woman said quietly. "Originally, I'd hoped to raise and army to pit against it, but thing YOU showed up."

We continued to stand there, me pointing my SIG Sauer at her head, and her pressing a gun to my heart. My head spun as I tried to figure my way out of this one. I still held my Beretta in my other hand, so I _could_ try to shoot her. But if I wasn't fast enough…

"So, Rosemarie, any dying words?"

I stared, then blurted, "What's he or she like?"

She looked confused. "What?"

"My Devil," I snapped. "What's she—or he—like?"

"_IT_ is a being so magnificent yet terrible that one look could possibly blind you. The amount of power it possesses…it really is indescribable."

That was a really lame description.

"So…you're saying my Devil is God." I stated, still thinking. I was stronger than her, so if I tried to overpower her with brute force—

"No…that Devil wasn't like God," the crazy woman spoke as if she'd actually met the dude upstairs. "But there were definitely God-like attributes.

I mentally rolled my eyes. Wow. I just need to shoot her just for the sake of putting her out of her psychotic misery.

"But that's enough talk. After I kill you, I can finally rest in peace knowing that the Devil is dead and then I'll be able to retire, find a good place and have my corpses do my housework—"

"Wait!" I yelled. "You actually sold your soul to acquire necromancy because you didn't want to do things around the house?" This woman was clearly beyond help.

She frowned. "Well, that is only part of it. I am a professor, after all. Do you know how worthwhile it would be to get some real answers about history? Especially archeological digs. The stories these corpses could tell me…" She seemed to be lost in her own fantasy now.

That was the perfect distraction. I jerked my knee up and knocked the hand away, and the gun dropped to the ground. However, I lost my chance to shoot her because the bloody dog had attacked me, forcing me back.

But my triumph was short lived. The corpses leapt back into action, all gunning at me.

The necromancer laughed again, and I wished desperately to at least rip out her vocal chords if I couldn't kill her. "I compliment you one your efforts," she chuckled. "But it ends here, Rosemarie."

"Don't bet on it."

Everyone –including the zombies, might I add –turned toward the speaker. I raised my guns and shot at several corpses. "I was wondering when you'd show up, Comrade."

Dimitri grinned evilly.

If I were one of those corpses, I'd have run away screaming for my mommy, because when Dimitri smiles evilly, I mean he smiles _evilly_. Satan himself would run away screaming like a castrated man.

He held up a weapon that resembled an AK-47 and turned some sort of knob at the back. Then he held a lighter in front of the barrel. I realized just in time what he was doing and dove out of the way just as the jet of gas coming from the gun ignited, effectively becoming a flamethrower.

I scrambled to my feet just as I heard a gunshot. My leg gave out, and white hot pain tore through my thigh and nearly made me scream. I looked up for the shooter (my guess was the necromancer) but whoever it was, was either burning and dying, or long gone.

"Rose!" Dimitri ran over, gripping my shoulder tightly. "Are you alright?" He saw my leg injury and frowned worriedly. "Does it hurt?"

"No, I'm on anesthesia 24-7, so I don't feel a fucking thing," I snarled through gritted teeth. "Of course it hurts!"

"I called for backup, so soon—" He stopped and whipped out a Colt Python, calmly shooting something behind me.

Instinctively, I whirled just as the corpse Dimitri had shot fell toward me. I gripped its head, braced my uninjured leg on its shoulder, and tore its head of, its flesh tearing with a sickening squelching noise.

"That was disgusting" Dimitri said. He did sound slightly nauseated.

"Well excuse me for not being gentler with the attacking corpse!"I snapped, knowing that it wasn't fair for me to be bitchy toward him, but pain made me unreasonable at the moment. "Where did the necromancer go?"

"Gone. That corpse was the last of them."

I looked around, shocked. All the corpses lay on the ground, unmoving or burning or both. I was a little amused to see that the first corpse had still failed to pull its head from the ground and was now lying, unmoving, with a burning ass.

"C'mon, Rose," Dimitri said, bending and picking me up.

"What do you think you're—?"

He looked at me sternly. "You are in no condition to walk or run and you know it. So, for ONCE in your life, would you put aside your pride and that ridiculous independent streak of yours and let me take care of you?"

I stared up at him in shock. I knew that a cemetery full of burning corpses wasn't an ideal place to be thinking the way I did, but I couldn't help but thing that that was a really sweet thing to say. Then again, a setting like this was perfect for the two of us.

Then I mentally kicked myself again. Strictly professional! Besides, a guy like Dimitri would never be interested in a person seven years younger, not to mention annoying and bitchy. Oh, and there was that little issue about me having maybe six more months left to live. And that was only if I survived the necromancer who was hell-bent on killing me.

That thought really startled me. I had so little time left to live…how the hell was I supposed to find my Devil in time?

"Rose. Hey, Roza!"

I blinked and looked up at Dimitri. I somehow had ended up in a cab and Dimitri sat next to me, examining me closely. "Yeah?" Haha, my voice sounded funny.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Besides the bullet in my leg? Yep, I'm just okie-dokie!" Okay, something was definitely wrong with me. I don't think I've ever said the words okie-dokie before in my life, and I wouldn't even have said them, even if my life had depended on it.

Dimitr obviously noticed this as well. "Obviously not," he smiled amusedly.

I rubbed my eyes, the ran a hand through my hair. "Ew! Do I have human gunk in my hair?" The adrenaline was quickly rushing out and I was now reaping the rewards.

"Go to sleep, roza," Dimitri ordered me, placing his large hand on my head (despite the gunk). "With all the trouble you attract, you'll need all the rest you can get."

I grinned at him, then closed my eyes.

I _think_ Dimitri hugged me close to him, but I was sleep too fast to be sure. Still, one can hope…

* * *

_Sorry for such a short chapter. I promise to have the next chapter of Spirit Bound out as soon as I can, it's almost done. Once again, I'm sorry for my absence, and I PROMISE I'll try to get more up more often.  
_

_Please, please, please review! They really do keep me motivated!  
_


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